does anyone else seriously think shit will hit the fan in our lifetimes?

[fatboy1185]

Actually the worst case scenario for that is outlined in this convenient comic...

Um false. Worst case scenario is that this thing keeps leaking oil for another year or so and the ocean becomes a huge oil pit. Sea life will die off entirely. There is no way they can "contain" the oil to a small area. It has already spread incredibly far in a short amount of time.

[LadyG]

I've been around Reading mostly.
I haven't had the net at home, so browse-about time has been limited.

But, I like a good political discussion, and I liked what you had said, so I thought I'd chime in.

Still waiting for those extra small T-shirts, hon I was hoping to have one for IA.


(just messin', I know your busy)

[deevergote]

There will never be enough oil leaking from that pipe to significantly contaminate the entire ocean. The regional effects will indeed be devastating, but the oil will be dispersed enough that it won't affect life on the other side of the planet. Trust me, Alaskan Salmon will be safe to eat once this leak runs dry. This planet is mostly water.

[deevergote]

I've been around Reading mostly.
I haven't had the net at home, so browse-about time has been limited.

But, I like a good political discussion, and I liked what you had said, so I thought I'd chime in.

Still waiting for those extra small T-shirts, hon I was hoping to have one for IA.


(just messin', I know your busy)

I've only sold one of the shirts I have in stock since we last talked about it!
Work will be picking up next month, so I might have the extra cash to dump on another order of shirts. Not to mention the big NY meet is coming up... HOPEFULLY some guys will buy shirts there!

You're always good for a political discussion. You're one of the few people on here I see able to have an intelligent discussion without getting overly worked up. It's refreshing.

[owequitit]

Same shit differnent day. This crap has been being said since the beginning of time.

While everyone is looking around to find the next person that is going to deprive them of their "life," they are going to miss something and take it from themselves.

Nobody will bring about the downfall of anything except themselves.

[deevergote]

That's why I don't bother thinking too deeply about this kind of stuff. It's interesting enough, but that's where it stops for me. My quality of life is good. I'm not going to miss out on that by worrying about problems that I have no ability to control. When something matters enough, and I can do something about it, I do something. Otherwise, it's all just entertaining thoughts and discussion.

I know, that sounds ignorant... but I'm NOT doing anything to prevent the oil spill, fix the economy, end terrorism, change the education system, etc... Therefore, it'd be hypocritical of me to get worked up about anything.

[crazymikey]

Somehow, Bieber managed to slip through the blades unscathed.

Must be the verbal diarrhea he spews.Not solid enough to get chopped up.

[Pandemic]

i mean i guess....
i HIGHLY doubt that we will have a massive crop failure spread across the us. look at all the shit we put on our crops, were more likely to die from eating all the shit they use to protect them then from the actual dieseases they may carry.

ebola is the h1n1 of monkeys, but i dont think there have been any if few human cases in the united states.

terrorism im sure will happen again, and we cant predict it. we can only expect it and not be ignorant of it.

Nah. I'm talking about fungus, mold, etc killing the crops. You know if that were to happen elsewhere we'd be the ones hurting. Crops would skyrocket in price and would be sold to the highest bidder, as always.

There are two known storage sites of small pox. The CDC in Washington and in Russia. If it were stolen or duplicated and distributed, it could wipe out NYC in 3 days or less. It'd spread a lot faster than H1N1. We would get vaccinated but by then who knows how many would be dead.

[Bcozzi71]

China is NK's biggest supporter. In the Korean war, Russia helped NK stock pile weapons. NK (and a few elite Russians) invaded South Korea. They almost took the country when the US entered. Then, with that shift in the ballance, South Korea and the US nearly took the North. Then China entered and that's where the 38th parallel was created.

So yeah, Russia and China would take NK's side no matter what they did. They don't want any country with US influence as their neighbor.

Look at Russia's temper tantrums with the US wanting to put Patriot missile systems in Poland. Patriots are interceptor missiles and have no offensive capability...

China in NK biggest supporter. Russia however is no longer the USSR and is in the partnership of peace a section in NATO. They would not back NK.

[owequitit]

EMP = Electro Magnetic Pulse. When a Nuke goes off it emits a magnetic pulse which frys circuits. The US developed it further and if an EMP were to go off, say, 1 mile over the US, the entire country's circuits would fry in less than a second.

Having a car w/o a computer would be GOLDEN if that were to happen.

I'm 100% sure the US has some EMP proof structors but for the most part the citizens would be fucked.

1 EMP isn't quite that effective. It would take out a radius around it, yes, but a single one wouldn't shut down the whole works.

Also, the government is much more hardened against EMP than you think. Non-essential functions, no. But critical functions, such as our ability to protect ourselves yes. I guarandamtee the military will still funtion in the event of an EMP (even one that shuts down the whole country), and has had that ability since the 60's. Even most individual tools of the trade are EMP protected, and have been since computers and electronics became widespread.

There are yearly(?) drills for EMS and first responders to such events. A few years ago the scenario was a terrorist attack and the whole of NEPA's first responders were somehow involved.

WE the people are little more than sheep. That's one of the reasons I want to join the military - training.

Our emergency resources have always used staged scenarios to prepare for actual disasters. Most large scale people environments (such as airports etc)practice such scenarios every so often to make sure the emergency response system still functions. In the case of aviation, sometimes it is a terrorist attack, a plane crash, or an outbreak, etc.

That's exactly right. Who would have thought that 4 commercial air liners could bring the US down for a week? Not me. I give the terrorists credit for thinking outside the box.

Anybody who knew aviation behind the scenes knew that it was 1)likely due to the media effectiveness of airplane crashes 2) likely due to the widespread availability of airplanes and targets and 3) possible because prior to 9/11 it was highly unprotected to the point of creating a facade of security for the unwashed traveling public. In fact, I had a discussion with the international head of security at Phoenix Sky Harbor about how easy it would be to get stuff onto an airplane to do damage. That was about a month before 9/11 happened.

Terorists may be misguided in their reasoning, but they are certainly not stupid. Well, I'm sure some are, but the ones that are a threat to us are not. Osama Bin Laden is (or was) an incredibly intelligent man (and I'm sure anyone working below him, probably by a couple of tiers, are also dangerously intelligent.)

It is less about their intelligence and more about our complacency and attitude of entitlement. The amount of IQ required to pull such a stunt off is not very high, it simply requires observation and determination.

Also, coincidentally, as a megalomaniac, Osama Bin Laden almost shot himself in the foot, because his original plans for 9/11 called for multiple simultaneous attacks in nearly every US city, but his subordinates convinced him that they didn't have the resources to pull it off. In fact, I believe it was Atta who was the driving force in doing so, as he was tasked with doing the actual ground work and planning over here.

As it was, 9/11 didn't go down at all as well as planned as only 50% of the targets were hit, and arguably, while indellible in our memory, the after effects weren't nearly as bad as if the other targets had been hit.

The fact is that with little intelligence or smarts, we are vulnerable. We always will be, and as long as we understand that, we are about as well protected as we can be. Hell, we have way more problems with internal "terrorists" than international ones.

The good thing is, a terrorist attack on a large enough scale to do serious damage to this country would be much easier to detect than a small scale attack. The 9/11 attacks were devastating, but they were fairly small-scale in comparison to what COULD happen. The bigger the attack, the more extensive preparations will be necessary. The more planning, preparing, and mobilization necessary, the faster it'll be on our radar, and the sooner we can defuse it. The 9/11 attacks also heightened our awareness of terrorism as well. Not just the government, but the general public. We know now that violent terrorism isn't something confined to distant countries.

This is absolutely true.

You have it nearly right my friend. So closely right I can scarcely believe it.

No one is wanting to be a Family Doctor, because Neurosurgeons are paid better, and they have HUGE student loans to pay off. So we have HORRIBLE health care among rural and urban impoverished communities.

If the whole world lived as we "Westernized Nations" do, we would need TWO extra editions of Earth.
THAT WE AINT GOT.

We need to cease believing that as long as we look out for "JUST you and yours" everything will work itself out.

I won't even get into the Patriot Act except to say that every single person I know who has actually read it, in its entirety, (which you can't do without proper clearance) says that it does not violate Civil Liberties. They can't just spy because they feel like it. They have to be justified, and while the media and lefties would like to pretend that it is open season, that is just not the case. Of course, these are the same people that complain about it on one hand, but have no problem trying to put cameras in every single corner of your life to make sure you aren't doing anything "wrong." Ironic isn't it?

Personally, I don't anyone that actually believes that. Just because they may not be making decisions in YOUR favor, doesn't mean they are only considering themselves.

And if you think it is bad here, try going to the "community" type nations promote the "collective good". Places such as the former Soviet Union that deemed reactor containment vessels a "frivilous expense," which resulted directly in Chernobyl. I can think of literally thousands of other examples of such behavior.

The FACT is that "western" countries have done far more toward promoting an actual sustainable future than any other single ideology of life, and we have done it by PROMOTING the individual, rather than trying to smash the individual. Free thought is good for humans, and any enviroment that encourages such free thought is better than any that doesn't. Individually, in order to encourage free thought, you MUST promote the individual. That often means incentive, which can come in many forms, including, but not limited to, money.

Anything contrary is hopeful at best, because humans ARE individuals, they perceive, think and rationalize as individuals. Our NATURE (which is stronger than any ideology) is that if there is no incentive for us to do something, then we don't to it. Hence your neurosurgeon foregoing the family practice. Not to mention the fact that supply and demand probably dictates that the market for neurosurgeons is under-staturated, versus the family doctor market which is probably over-saturated. Not to mention that medical pursuits aren't something that should be done for money anyway, and should instead be driven by a sense of fullfilment, as should teaching, law and politicking. But alas, there is our nature showing again.

That is that thinking in this country that has killed manufacturing in this Nation, (Thanks Corporations) allowed the single biggest threat to our natural born civil liberties to fly,(The Patriot Act) and produces the demand for lil girls sweat suits with "Juicy" across the ass. (WRONG)

What has killed manufacturing in this country is the expectation of entitlement that employees believe that turning a screw on a door handle, which requires absolutely no education, thought, or any other skill set that warrants it, should command income figures that are out of line. In fact, manufacturing has actually done quite well in this country, especially when you stop considering that it isn't limited to a few companies. The Detroit automakers got taken through the ringer for a whole lot of reasons that have little to do with our "country" and more to do with bad management and union leadership. The textile industry has largely disappeared, but in many cases, the states that used to be large textile producers have wooed other manufacturing, namely large foreign firms who want to build stuff here. While everyone sits there and complains about "American manufacturing going overseas" the Japanese have increased the % of product built here to over 90%, and the Europeans and Koreans have all moved in to fill the void. But they aren't overpriced Detroit UAW jobs, so UAW doesn't want you to hear about them.

As for textiles, it is easy to villanize the "company," but the REALITY is that you don't go to the store and pay an extra $2 for the same exact product you can get elsewhere for cheaper, just because, so the result of that is the cheaper price gets the sale. Take grocery shopping for instance. Do you bargain shop? What effect do you suppose that has on the location of manufacturing, and its impact on the global whole?

Besides, why should some poor starving Chinese person be less entitled to pay their electric bill than you are? Are we all one world, or aren't we? Hell, most of them would probably just like the opportunity to HAVE electricity in their home.

My Humble, yet informed, opinion is that we will soon recede as a world power. Eventually, WE will live in a country of slums, corruption and a vast distance between the "Have's" and the "Have not's" in the land. Our generation's decisions will determine the outcome. I want my kids to live well; even if that means less toys/games/stuff.

Within 50 years, this country will no longer be pre-emminent, and that is assured. However, it is not all our fault either.

Yeah, we have had 50 years of horrible leadership, special interests have taken over, and we are passing laws that don't encourage people to produce. We will get our just desserts for that.

However, even if we had done everything right, China is mobilizing their people, and they have the manpower, resources and will to do it. They can produce at a fraction of what we do on an individual basis, and they will STILL win, simply because they outnumber us 10 to 1 and they have nowhere to go but up. Even if we did everything right, when China chose to make the transition toward a free market economy (much as every other communist countries knows, it doesn't work), they essentially rendered us obsolete as the world leaders.

To top it off, they have a long term focused government that is setting their sights on success, and laying the ground work for it to happen. Meanwhile, we have been reduced to squabbling and infighting over the details of a law that doesn't make sense, and won't work anyway, and when that grows tiresome, we go back to complaining about whether each other's flags are red or blue. Frankly, in that respect deeve is correct. We are so wrapped up in our agendas, our entitlements and what we want (we are ALL guilty of it to a degree), that it is just a matter of time before they are all snatched away.

While China is currently in the process of laying the groundwork for a hydrogen infrastructure and efficient modes of transportation that aren't dependent on oil, we are now pursuing an energy policy that doesn't reduce our consumption one bit, but looks good on paper, so that the mis-informed, ignorant and self serving special interests can sleep well at night. China will have cheap sustainable power which will continue to fuel their growth, while we will not, because we choose not to. One day, we will realize this, but it will be too late. We will have already accelerated our fall from pre-emminence, and hopefully, we will be able to make up the difference then, if we can get over ourselves, remember how to compromise and move foward.

Also, look for the manufacturing shift to slow markedly in the next few decades. Just like Europe did to found us, and we did to found Japan, Korea and China, everything will level out, and the world will be better off both at an individual level, and at a collective level because of it.

When we transfer such jobs, it gives them access to a lifestyle that was not otherwise possible. While it may not seem like much to us, it is a lot for them (median city income in China is around $4K per year, while median rural income is around $2.5K per year), which has itself started to increase exponentially. While we couldn't or wouldn't live on $1.50 an hour, that is actually an improvement for them compared to what they used to have. Much as our fractions of income were better than what we had, and lower than what the "establishment" had. Everyone won. China is also in the preliminary steps to making the economic rules that were once adopted by ALL industrialized nations, to help protect the quality of life and improve it for the average person. So, the labor will not be dirt cheap forever, and will, in fact, serve to finance their furtherment of education, and eventually world leadership. Eventually, China will start to send jobs elsewhere and those nations will begin to rise from the armpits of society.

Um false. Worst case scenario is that this thing keeps leaking oil for another year or so and the ocean becomes a huge oil pit. Sea life will die off entirely. There is no way they can "contain" the oil to a small area. It has already spread incredibly far in a short amount of time.

That is what they said in 1989, and here we are a fraction of time estimated down the road, with a fraction of the damage estimated. They claimed it would be forever tainted for AT LEAST 100 years, and while there is still some damage, it is neither as long lasting, or as widespread as they said. This spill is bigger, but it is far from the biggest, and its effects will not last forever. In the grand scheme of time, nature and the planet, it is not as catastrophic as the myopic greenies would have you believe.

[kantkillkeenan]

You might as well look foward to it, because it's going to happen. Be prepared or be assed out

[mj213]

Main Entry: assed
Pronunciation: \ˈast, ˈäst; dial ˈaks\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): assed \ˈas(k)t, ˈäs(k)t, ˈast; dial ˈakst\;
Example (ie.): “I lieks diss girl in class but mah frend assed her out first.”

[Pandemic]

America is in for a rude awakening, that's for sure.